70 Dart Rally Dash Bezel Removal

[69GT]

i want to take the dash bezel (rally dash) off on my 70 Dart. Other than removing the switch knobs/bezels and the heater control knobs, is there anything else beside the screws that are visible on the front of the bezel that I will need to remove to take the bezel off the dash?

 

[Murray]

No knob removal. All knob/switches come out with bezel/cluster. From rear, remove all switch wiring and speedo cable. Remove three heater cables. Radio stays in. In front, remove seven retaining screws and cig lighter if equipped

 

[69GT]

I wasn't planning on removing the cluster, etc. Just the plastic bezel with the woodgrain on it.

 

[Elmer-FN-Fudd]

I don't think it is possible to remove just the bezel. unless the cluster with bezel is already out of the dash.

 

[1MeanA]

You can take the bezel off after the whole cluster is out

 

[CFD244]

No knob removal. All knob/switches come out with bezel/cluster. From rear, remove all switch wiring and speedo cable. Remove three heater cables. Radio stays in. In front, remove seven retaining screws and cig lighter if equipped

............Be super careful removing the harnesses from the circuit boards or you'll break the connecting pins on the boards.

Do a solid state IVR upgrade while you are in there....It's just a matter of time before the mechanical one in the gas gauge fails (my opinion).

 

[Bennoel 10]

I wasn't planning on removing the cluster, etc. Just the plastic bezel with the woodgrain on it.

Can't be done without removing the whole cluster first.

 

[1MeanA]

............
Do a solid state IVR upgrade while you are in there....It's just a matter of time before the mechanical one in the gas gauge fails (my opinion).

Can you elaborate on this?

 

[CFD244]

Can you elaborate on this?

Its a common problem with the mechanical voltage regs inside the gas gauge that utilize a bi-metal strip that opens and closes a set of points as 12 volts gets applied. The result of them heating and cooling amounts to opening and closing the points rapidly which relatively maintains a 5 or 6 volt supply for fuel, temp, and oil pressure gauges. When they fail, they can do it one of two ways. Open or closed. If they fail open, the gauges mentioned will not read anything (best case scenario). If they fail closed, system voltage gets applied to the gauges and they all fry. The sytem can be upgraded by defeating the original in the fuel gauge and installing an RTE solid state IVR. Lots of info out there on the conversion.......Here's what it looks like completed. The little box in the upper left is from RTE. The extra red and black jumpers to the right are for a Voltmeter addition and unrelated to the IVR installation.

 

[4spdragtop]

Bingo! Like Cfd/Troy said above install IVR. These are almost 60 year old gauges. I did the exact same thing. Fuel gauge was still working, but for how much longer? My gas gauge still works properly after upgrade.

Its a common problem with the mechanical voltage regs inside the gas gauge that utilize a bi-metal strip that opens and closes a set of points as 12 volts gets applied. The result of them heating and cooling amounts to opening and closing the points rapidly which relatively maintains a 5 or 6 volt supply for fuel, temp, and oil pressure gauges. When they fail, they can do it one of two ways. Open or closed. If they fail open, the gauges mentioned will not read anything (best case scenario). If they fail closed, system voltage gets applied to the gauges and they all fry. The sytem can be upgraded by defeating the original in the fuel gauge and installing an RTE solid state IVR. Lots of info out there on the conversion.......Here's what it looks like completed. The little box in the upper left is from RTE. The extra red and black jumpers to the right are for a Voltmeter addition and unrelated to the IVR installation.

View attachment 1716358133

 

[1MeanA]

I wish I knew about this before I reassembled my dash

 

[Joe Camper]

I had not known this either. All my stuff sill works.

Ive had my dash out and put a 150 speedo in. Pulled the tach for the clock It was a since and very helpful to loosen and pull down the steering column some and if you don't want to risk scratches in the metal frame of the dash I'd tape it up before r&r.

 

[Joe Camper]

That searched right up thanks